


Moonlight

by Peskychloe



Series: Sandwiched [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, impossibly long description of making hot chocolate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-01 15:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10192934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peskychloe/pseuds/Peskychloe
Summary: Things were going well with Ennoshita, but Akaashi still harbours some self-doubts, especially about the secret he's keeping from his boyfriend.





	

**Author's Note:**

> During the Italian food event in 'Another Slice of Cheese', Akaashi takes Ennoshita aside to give Suga and Daichi some space to talk after they see other properly for the first time in over four years. The first part takes place during their talk over a cigarette in the back yard.
> 
> \-- 
> 
> Akaashi has a bit of anxiety during this. If you might find that triggering, then it starts after the taxi ride when Ennoshita says 'Keiji', so at that point ctrl+F to 'i was worried'

'Sawamura, would you mind if I just borrowed him for a minute?'

Daichi waved a hand at him, so Akaashi gripped Ennoshita's wrist, and began dragging him towards the kitchen.

'I've got something to show you,' Akaashi whispered in his ear as they walked.

'Oh yeah? Is it edible?'

'Well, you can put it in your mouth if you want.'

The effect that whispering close to his ear had on him, as Akaashi had discovered all those weeks before on the bus, hadn't abated; along with his frankly childish sense of humour, he could easily turn Ennoshita into a giggling mess by whispering some Italian, or an innuendo, or some combination of the two.

As the two of them walked together, hands nipping at waists and yelping giddily, it was hard for Akaashi to fathom how much had changed. What he'd thought was a job to fill a gap, had actually led to him meeting Chikara (on his first day, for goodness sake), and becoming an overnight cliché. If he thought for too long about those first few weeks, when he would pine and think nothing would ever happen, it made his face hot with embarrassment, so he usually chose to ignore it and focus on how good things were now.

And damn, were they good.

After that first date, that ended up lasting all weekend, they'd been fairly inseparable. They saw each other every day to walk to work from the bus station, then again for lunch at the shop, and finally they'd walk back to the bus station, to go to one of their houses, or very rarely to separate until the next morning. Akaashi would cook if they spent the evening with each other, then after eating they would watch films, or listen to music while he researched new recipes and Ennoshita wrote more of his script.

Sometimes though, he would become worried about ignoring his other friends. He didn't want to be one of those people who fell off the face of the earth just because they had a new partner, only to go crawling back when things went wrong. Then again, thinking about things going wrong with Ennoshita left him with a sick feeling in his chest he didn't care for, leading him to become worried about that instead of snubbing his friends.

The only thing that stopped the nausea was reminding himself that Ennoshita had already told him he loved him at The Weather Cafe; but then it always returned once he remembered he hadn't said it again since then.

He couldn't blame him really. It had probably taken a lot of balls to tell someone you love them after one date, and then to not have it said back must have made him regret saying anything in the first place. They'd never discussed it again after leaving the cafe, and the whole thing had been so surreal, with indoor rain and voices in their heads while they drank flower-filled tea, it was almost like it had never happened.

So instead of taking about it, they fell head first into a familiar routine, comfortable beyond the length of time they'd been dating. Cooking evening meals, having an allocated drawer in each other's house to store underwear and toiletries, getting passed the food section from the Sunday paper, with gentle smiles over Ennoshita's reading glasses.

The other thing was, and he felt like an arsehole for even thinking about it, but there hadn't been a repeat of the night after the opening of the restaurant, when they hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other, and had ended up... messing up Akaashi's suit. There was plenty of kissing and hugging, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd walked anywhere without holding Ennoshita's hand in his. They would sleep in the same bed, in each other's arms, fully dressed and chaste.

So, yeah he was definitely happy. Obviously. Blissfully happy. It seemed ungrateful to be anything but, when everything was so easy and cosy, and they made each other laugh, calmed each other down, and had so many shared jokes and references, it was like they spoke another language half the time.

But there was still a feeling that since Ennoshita had confessed to loving him, things had already moved from unbridled lust into being maybe a little too domestic, and he couldn't quite decide if they'd missed a load of steps out, or had stalled before getting to the steps at all.

'So, where are you taking me?' Ennoshita asked, bringing him back to the present.

'Upstairs.'

'Sorry, this place has an upstairs?'

'Yeah, it's not very big, just storage and stuff.' He led him through the cloakroom at the back, to a small staircase, which continued through a hatch in the ceiling.

'Keiji, this isn't “upstairs”, this is an attic. Are you planning on murdering me, or what?'

'Not today,' Akaashi turned to say, and saw that despite his moaning, he was reluctantly being followed through the square hole.

The musty smell hit him more than it had the day before when he'd gone to find a hiding place, and he was wishing he'd thought to spray around some air freshener or something. The vaulted roof was flooded with early evening light coming through a triangular window on the end wall, the rays picking up flecks of dust floating between the beams.

'Well, it's bigger than I expected, but it still looks like something from a survival horror.'

Akaashi moved as close to the window as he could, ducking down to fit in the space, and sat on the exposed floorboards. He took off his apron, and lay it on the floor next to him.

'Here. It's dusty up here. I need to get changed still anyway, but you can sit on this. Oh, and mind the splinters.'

'This is definitely the worst place you've ever taken me.'

'Oh shush,' Akaashi said patting the apron, and smiling at Ennoshita as he sat next to him and picked up his hand.

'Hi,' he said as he leaned over and kissed Akaashi, 'Do you come here often?'

'Never until yesterday. But I never had anything to hide from Suga before.'

'Ooh, is this to do with my boss?'

'No, it's nothing to do with those two. It's about... well, us I guess.'

'Oh.' Ennoshita's face fell, and his hand slackened its grip on Akaashi's. 'Right.'

'It's a bit awkward really. Hang on.' He leaned behind him, and dug around between two boxes of protein powder for the envelope he'd hidden the day before. He squeezed the sides, and blew into the open end, before tipping it up until some folded papers fell into his lap.

'So yesterday, I told you I was coming into work to cook for today, which was partly true.' He flicked at a photograph paper-clipped onto the papers as he spoke. 'I also had a meeting before work. I haven't told anyone about it yet, I just hid this straight up here yesterday, and I've been cooking ever since.'

He passed the wad of paper over, and Ennoshita took it, frowning slightly. 'Hey, I'm not sure what this is, but I'm not looking at it until you answer one thing. Are you breaking up with me?'

'What? Where's that coming from?'

'You just said this was about us, and now you hid something from me about where you were yesterday.' Ennoshita's voice was the quietest he'd ever heard it, and he was still looking at the folded paper in his hand.

Akaashi lifted his head up by the chin, forcing Ennoshita to look at him.

'Hey! Do you know what I said to you in Italian earlier? When you thought I was insulting you?'

'You know I only know one phrase...'

'I said you were the nicest man I'd ever seen,' he said, poking him in the shoulder to punctuate his point. 'I think it every time I see you. Why would I break up with you?'

'Because you don't like me as much as I like you.'

'Where did you get _that_ idea from?' Ennoshita turned his face away again, but Akaashi squeezed his hand. 'Is this because of what happened at The Weather Cafe?' he asked him softly.

'It might be.' His voice was barely above a whisper. 'I was fine with you not saying it back, I wasn't lying about that. But I did feel a bit fucking stupid for saying it so quick, so I tried to pretend I hadn't until a bit more time had passed.'

'God, maybe we should have talked about this sooner instead of both ignoring it. I thought you regretted saying it cause you just got swept up in the moment or something. Then you didn't say it again, and I thought I must have been right.'

Ennoshita dropped the paper, and brought his hand up to cup Akaashi's cheek. He looked him straight in the eyes, unwavering.

'I don't regret saying it, and I don't feel stupid any more.' Ennoshita's eyes were watery, and he brought his other hand up to Akaashi's other cheek. 'I definitely love you, ok?'

Ennoshita cradled his face as if it were bone china, and his usually dark brown eyes had flames dancing on the edges from the light streaming through the window above them. This time there was no hesitation.

'I love you too, Chikara.' He leant forwards to kiss him, but was already being engulfed in his arms. His hands were trapped between them, so he quickly freed them so he could return the embrace. He felt Ennoshita shaking slightly, and realised it was because he'd started crying, shortly before realising he wasn't the only one.

Akaashi moved his tear streaked face out of his shoulder, and finally found his mouth, pressing slightly parted lips against him. The returning kiss was gentle but passionate, and left him in no doubt that Ennoshita had meant every word he'd said.

As they carried on kissing, Akaashi lowered them both onto the apron, insufficiently spread over the splinter filled floorboards; but if either of them got any stuck into them, they didn't notice, there were more important things to think about.

As they rolled over, the papers fell off Ennoshita's lap, and lay forgotten.

 

–

 

'We all having a drink before we go home?' Daichi asked later that evening once all the clearing up had been finished.

'Well, you two are. We're going home.' Akaashi passed a beer to Suga. 'Let's go, _mi amore_.'

'Come on, _tesoro_.' He slid his arm around Ennoshita's shoulders, and they went out of the door, leaving Suga and Daichi to awkwardly shuffle around each other.

'What does that mean?' Ennoshita leant into his shoulder, hugging him closer.

'It means treasure. You like it?' As he whispered into his ear, he set off the other man giggling again, which brought a quiet chuckle from Akaashi. 'You're so sensitive! I could whisper anything and you'd giggle.'

They carried on walking, arms around each other in the silence of the city streets after midnight. The last bus had long since left, due to it being a Sunday, so Akaashi flagged down a taxi outside the theatre.

Sitting on the back seat, Ennoshita sighed, and put his head on Akaashi's shoulder as he gave the driver the address.

'I don't know why I'm so tired. You did all the cooking.' He sighed again, and said, 'I hope Suga and Daichi sort things out.'

'I'm sure they will. We were pretty pushy back there.'

'They needed it, though. I couldn't bear watching them dance around each other any more. It was nauseating.' He yawned, and closed his eyes.

Akaashi laughed. 'You know it was probably just as irritating watching us before we got together, right?'

'Nah. We're cute.'

He looked sideways at Ennoshita, putting an arm around him, and rubbing his hand up and down his upper arm. He watched as the familiar landscape flickered past the windows, tall grey buildings flooded with amber light, giving way to darker, tree lined suburban housing. They were only a few minutes away from his house, but he could hear Ennoshita's breathing was already heavy, and the weight of his head had dropped.

'Chika?' There was no response. 'I don't believe it.'

The taxi driver looked in his rear view mirror, and asked whereabouts he wanted dropping off. He pointed out his side street, and tried unsuccessfully to rouse his boyfriend.

'I'm not carrying you, love, come on, we're here.' He thanked and paid the driver, before pulling a grumbling Ennoshita from the car, and walking to his front door, while holding him up against him. He struggled to get his keys from his pocket, so he tried to get Ennoshita to stand up by himself, while he insisted on clinging to Akaashi.

'Chikara! Please, it's been a long day. Let's just get to bed.' Ennoshita sensed the annoyance in his tone, and stopped pulling at him for long enough to get them both inside the house.

He was already asleep, still wearing his football shirt and jeans, when Akaashi came back into the bedroom after brushing his teeth. He took off his boyfriend's trousers, and got in next to him, curling his body around his sleeping form.

'God, you're so irritating,' he breathed into his hair, smiling, as he kissed him goodnight.

 

–

 

'Keiji!' Ennoshita's voice cut through the haze of sleep, as he pushed a hand into his back to shake him awake. 'Wake up, quick!'

'What? Are you ok?' he sat up quickly, if a little blearily.

'Yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking...'

'Chikara, I swear to God if you've woken me up to look at the moon again...'

'No, no! Sorry, I just remembered something. What were those papers?'

Akaashi blinked a little, and as more fog lifted, the realisation of why they'd been in the attic earlier in the first place dropped onto his chest like a brick.

'Fucking hell! The papers are still there!'

He scrambled from the bed, and started pulling on a pair of jeans over his pyjamas.

'Keiji, we don't have to see them now, I was just wondering...'

'You don't understand, Suga can't see them! I have to go get them now.' He started pulling a jumper over his head with such speed he got his head stuck in an armhole. 'Fuck!'

'Does Suga even go in the attic?'

Akaashi had stopped listening. The fabric was still stuck over his face, and panic had set in to such a degree, he couldn't seem to control his own body enough to extricate himself from it. He was beginning to lose control of his breathing.

Suddenly the jumper was ripped off of him, and Ennoshita had grabbed him firmly by the shoulders.

'Stop a minute. Breathe with me.' He lifted Akaashi's hand, and held it to his chest. He took a deep breath, encouraging Akaashi with facial expressions to do the same. They stood until their breathing had synced, and Ennoshita began to rub the back of Akaashi's hand rhythmically.

'Ok. Now, whatever it is, it can't be that bad. Even if it is, he won't go in the attic tonight, he'll be with Daichi, remember? Having their chat?'

Akaashi's eyes had closed, but he nodded to show he was listening.

'So, all you need to do is get to the shop before Suga in the morning, and get whatever it is. Right?' Akaashi nodded again. 'Do you want a hug yet?' And then a third time.

Ennoshita pulled him into his chest, and placed a hand on the back of his head, holding it against him. 'Better?'

Akaashi nodded against him. 'Yeah, it's cause I just woke up. Bit shaken.'

'I'm sorry I did that, I didn't realise you'd react so badly. Or that you were already so fast asleep.' He started firmly rubbing his back.

'Thanks. I'll be fine in a minute. Carry on doing that and you're forgiven.'

'You know that's the first time I've ever heard you swear. You said fuck. Twice.'

'I was worried.' Akaashi was already feeling ridiculous, and didn't appreciate being reminded he had lost his usual composure.

'I know, it was just strange hearing it. Tell me some Italian swearing.'

' _Che cavollo!_ '

'What's that one?'

'It's like saying, “what the hell”, but it literally means, “what cabbage”.'

'What's fuck in Italian?'

'I'm not telling you, cause it's a really bad word and you'll use it in the wrong place and get us both killed.'

He was starting to breathe more steadily, and the movement of Ennoshita against him was reassuring and familiar. He sighed, and squeezed him tighter around the waist.

'The moon _is_ particularly beautiful tonight by the way, really full and bright,' Ennoshita said, in his usual way, 'People have walked on that, it always amazes me. Did you know days are longer than years on Mercury?'

And with that the spell was a little broken, and Akaashi pulled away with another, more exasperated, sigh.

'If you're going to start talking like this, I think I'm probably ready to tell you what those papers were.'

 

–

 

Ennoshita was given the job of warming milk on the stove, while Akaashi began grating some high quality chocolate to melt into it. It seemed a bit of a waste, but Ennoshita had suggested having some hot chocolate, and it was the only solid bar he had.

'Have you got any squirty cream, Keiji?'

'Absolutely not! Heathen.'

'Well, you're obviously feeling better now,' he said, running a hand along Akaashi's waist as he moved behind him with a bowl of grated chocolate and peered into the pan. 'Can I at least have marshmallows?'

'Urm, let me take over here, and you can check to see if I have any.' He pointed at a cupboard door next to the fridge. 'If I've got any, they'll be in there.'

Ennoshita began fishing around, crinkling packages and shaking boxes.

'Bloody hell! There are M&Ms in here! Why aren't we eating these every night?' He poured a handful into his mouth directly from the bag, from where the corner had been neatly snipped away and held closed with a tiny wooden peg.

'I'm not really into sweets, I just have them for experimenting.' He looked up to see Ennoshita had already opened a Twix, and had one of the fingers hanging from his mouth. 'I'm going to regret telling you that cupboard exists, aren't I?'

Ennoshita resumed his exploration, and triumphantly pulled out a squishy bag of marshmallows the size of apples. 'Yes! Look at these!' He pulled one out and ran over, shoving it near Akaashi's face. All he could do in response was ruffle Ennoshita's hair.

'Since when do you like sweets so much?'

'Since always. You just don't give me them.' He took a bite out of the marshmallow and grinned back at him.

Akaashi had already started stirring the chocolate into the milk, so Ennoshita dropped the bag onto the counter next to him, before going back to sit at the table to wait with the second Twix finger and his half eaten mallow. He really did look at least ten years younger, his smile was so pure, like a boy left home alone who'd discovered where his parents hid everything he wasn't allowed access to.

The hot chocolate was now glossy brown with a smooth texture, so he poured it into two large bowl-like mugs, one white with a sedate ring of lettering around the rim, and the other pink with a cartoon of a woman wearing slippers and talking on the phone. It was an ironic gift from his secret santa at an old job, and he somehow knew Ennoshita would take it if he gave him the choice.

He plopped a marshmallow into each mug, and they were so large they touched the rim of both mugs almost all the way around. As a finishing touch, he grabbed a small blow torch from the counter, and toasted the top of both with a sideways flame.

As he carried them over to the table, Ennoshita was already watching him and smiling.

'It's 2am, why are you toasting the bloody marshmallows, and more to the point, who has a fucking blow torch in their kitchen?'

'I do.' He passed over the pink cup, and held his own in both hands, closing his eyes and bringing it up to his nose to breathe in deeply. It reminded him of summer campfires, a singed sweetness, backed up with sticky vanilla.

He opened his eyes and looked over at Ennoshita, to catch him sticking his Twix into the melted fluff of the marshmallow, scooping a pile of it onto the chocolatey biscuit.

'Aah, Keiji,' he breathed out contentedly, looking admiringly at his creation. 'We should go get blankets to snuggle under while we drink this.'

'No, don't forget why we're even up in the first place. It's time for the serious stuff.' Ennoshita visibly sat up straighter, and attempted to look solemn, not realising he had a chocolate moustache.

Akaashi booted up his laptop, and found the bookmark he was looking for on the browser. Once the page loaded, he scrolled down earnestly, trying to find the photograph, the only sound Ennoshita crunching through his biscuit.

Eventually, Akaashi span the laptop around to face him, and then leant over to wipe the chocolate from his top lip.

'I've bought a restaurant.'

 

–

 

'I'm sorry, say that again.' Ennoshita's hot chocolate was left forgotten, and his face had taken on the same expression he wore at work.

'I've bought a restaurant. Well, I need to sign for it still, but basically, yeah. I bought a restaurant.'

'Stop just saying it the same way. Can you elaborate a bit? What do you mean, a restaurant?' His voice was more stern than he'd ever heard it, and Akaashi was beginning to feel the weight of his decisions.

'Ok, well there's a little family run place near here, I talk to them a lot, well not as much recently, but I used to go most weekends for takeaway. I went in the other week, they told me they're retiring and moving back to Italy. They don't have children, well, they do, but neither wants to take it over. So they said they'll probably just be selling it. So...'

'So you bought it?'

'Yeah. Pretty much. I went in to see their solicitor before work yesterday and picked up the papers I need to sign. I wanted to ask if you'd look over them first.' Ennoshita's face hadn't changed for about five minutes, and he still looked shocked and vaguely annoyed. 'I mean it's not happening for a few months, it's just like, intent to buy or something? I can still get out of it, I think, that's why I wanted you to look.'

'Ok, so you haven't signed anything yet.' He started to look more relieved, and remembered his hot drink, taking a swig as if it was something much stronger.

'No, and I wouldn't. Not without talking to you.'

This was the whole reason he had needed to talk to Ennoshita first. Akaashi had got swept away in the romance of owning his own restaurant, and excited by the secrecy, without giving much thought to logistics. He'd imagined them both poring over the papers, with giddy glee, deciding on what food to serve, and commissioning local painters to produce new artwork.

However, if he was completely honest, Ennoshita's lack of any kind of enthusiasm was not only unexpected – his boyfriend got enthusiastic about virtually everything, to the point of being annoying – it was like a bucket of ice cold water. Ennoshita picked up on this disappointment, and held onto his hand.

'I'm sorry if I seem like I'm pissing on your parade. I'm glad you wanted to talk to me first, and I'm just thinking. Forgive me for being so forward, but how can you afford it?'

It made sense that his caution was caused by money, what with his job, and Akaashi berated himself for not mentioning it sooner. 'My Grandfather left me some money when I was about sixteen, and it's been in a trust fund ready for the future. I'm almost twenty-five, and I know what I want to do with it. I've always wanted to run a restaurant, and working with Suga, especially on this event, made me realise it even more.'

Ennoshita took another drink, with a calmer expression on his face. 'The thing I was most worried about was the money. But you've thought about that. Sorry, I should have had more faith in you.'

'Yeah, sorry, I'm telling you about it all in the wrong order...'

'No, I disagree,' Ennoshita interrupted him, 'A chef should worry about the food and customers first, and the finances later. That's why I'm going to help you.'

'Well, yeah, I was hoping you'd look over the papers and stuff, and be a sounding board.'

'No, I don't mean that. I want to work with you. As business partners.'

'Huh?'

'You'll need help. Aimee didn't realise how much she needed help with her restaurant until she actually started doing it. I've got the background from helping her, I know what I'm doing. Plus, I want to do it.'

'I'm not sure that's a good idea.' Akaashi had started picking at the skin on his thumbs; he was always surprised by how quickly Ennoshita could switch from one state of mind to another. He'd gone from being visibly shocked at the mere thought of Akaashi buying a business, to wanting to be a partner in it, in the space of about twenty seconds.

'Look, the only thing that was really worrying me was money, but you have it. If it's about us dating and working together... well, even if I wasn't your boyfriend, I'd still want to support this business. You're a great chef, Keiji. You can do this.'

'You don't think it's selfish?'

'What do you mean?'

He wasn't really sure himself. He drank the (luke warm) hot chocolate left in his cup, and tried to organise his thoughts. He thought through the people in his life this would affect, ticking them off mentally as he went.

First, his parents. Well, he'd already talked to them, they'd been the first to know. His Mother had been delighted that his inheritance would go towards making her son's dream a reality, as well as rescue a family run business from disappearing. Whenever his parents visited, they went to Bucrossio's, they were well acquainted with the business, and both had agreed it was a sound investment. It was always busy, and being taken over by someone with Italian heritage would continue the tradition, despite the family moving on.

Next was Chikara, of course. He had made up for his lack lustre initial reaction by offering more help than Akaashi had expected from him. Someone with his background really would be helpful; he'd insist on a wage, of course, but they could discuss that later.

He was concerned about how it would affect their relationship; but then again, there were months left until it would be his, and while he didn't want for a minute to break up with Ennoshita, he knew there was a chance they wouldn't make it. There was always a chance, no matter how close you were with someone, that things between you would break down irretrievably. However, he was also sure that if, for whatever reason, they did split up, they would stay friends. He just couldn't imagine him not being part of his life any more.

So that left Suga, and it surprised him to find he was worried about his reaction the most. Suga was a good boss, and he'd only said the other day how much he enjoyed working at Koushi's. He thought back more over their recent conversations, and realised they'd been full of Suga being worried he wasn't being stretched enough, that Akaashi was bored in his work. He imagined telling Suga about the restaurant, and he could see no reaction other than excited pride, albeit it twinged with disappointment to be losing a good friend and colleague. Knowing Suga, he'd share his suppliers with Akaashi, meaning he would be using the same wonderful ingredients he'd been using for the last few months.

He'd been quiet for a couple of minutes, and he came out of his own head to find Ennoshita was still absent mindedly rubbing his palm in circles with his thumb. He was scrolling on the open webpage, still eating M&Ms, waiting patiently for Akaashi to arrange his thoughts in order.

He thought about the two of them, a few months down the line, sitting at this same table, with open ledgers between them; an occasional cross word at a careless calculation one of them had made, or maybe something Ennoshita had forgotten to write down, or some expensive ingredient Akaashi had bought for a recipe, meaning it was now priced too high for the menu.

He could picture it so clearly in his mind, he started to feel impatient.

'It's not selfish at all, is it?' he finally said.

'No, it's not. You've paid your dues, you deserve it. If anything, I'm the one being selfish. I want in on it, cause I know it's going to be a success.' He brought his hand up and kissed his knuckles. 'Are you worrying about Suga?'

'Not any more,' he said, truthfully. He was already imagining Suga's face when he finally unveiled the restaurant on opening night, and he was sure no one would smile as widely as him, not even his parents.

'When do you think you'll tell him?'

'I don't want to leave it until it's happening, I'll tell him as soon as I sign these papers. He deserves a lot of notice. Who knows, Ushijima might come back before the Bucrossios even want to sell it.'

'Listen to you. I don't know why you ever thought you were selfish.'

He didn't want to go into the effects of his lack of self-esteem; It had gotten in the way too much during their relationship already, and he'd been enough trouble already this evening. Instead he decided to ask Ennoshita something he'd been meaning to.

'Chikara, how are you always so confident?'

He stood up, and picked up the two cups, and started swilling them out at the sink. Once most of the chocolate was rinsed off, he turned with his back to the sink, and leant against it, looking at Akaashi.

'I haven't always been. When I was at school, I played for the football team. Things got tough, and I decided I couldn't be bothered practising any more. I was sick of being shouted at, I just wanted to have fun.'

He walked back to the table, this time sitting closer to Akaashi. He held his hand, and rubbed his shoulder, as he talked, and Akaashi was starting to relax.

'After a couple of days I realised I missed it, and it was more boring not playing. So I went back to practice. But by that time, I'd shown I was weak somehow, and it went against me. I was never chosen for the first team.'

'Did you stop playing?'

'I played until I left school, but I was always on the bench. It didn't stop me giving everything to the team though. When I realised I was gay, they were there for me when my parents weren't.'

Akaashi leaned in to him, and kissed his cheek softly; his parents were the only source of bitterness he'd managed to find so far. Ennoshita smiled, and kissed him back, this time on the lips.

'I decided after that I would be confident in what I wanted, and have courage in my convictions. So when I met you, I went for it. I didn't want you to think I was weak.'

'You're the strongest person I've ever met.'

He stood up and took Ennoshita's hand, pulling him to his feet, and wrapping his arms around his waist. He tightened his grip, and dipped his head to catch Ennoshita's lips in his. As their mouths opened against each other, Ennoshita's hands were in the hair at his nape, pulling him even closer. The taste of chocolate was strong, but the scent of bergamot was also drifting upwards off his clothes, overwhelming his senses. When they eventually separated, he was slightly breathless.

'Come on,' he said, still holding Ennoshita's hand and walking off to the bedroom. 'Let's go back to bed.'

'Ok, but I'm not sure I can sleep after all the sugar, I'm pretty wired.'

Akaashi turned and looked back over his shoulder. If Ennoshita could be confident about what he wanted, then so could he.

'Who said anything about sleeping?'

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Bucrossio is the Italian name of my Great Aunt's husband. His first two names were Benito Mussolini, no joke, so when they came to England, he changed his name to Benny Bucross, which is probably a good idea when you're named after a fascist.
> 
> I'm never sure if my Ennoshita is OOC or not. It's hard with him, because there's not a lot of information about him to go on. However, what little there is, I've tried to show how I read those situations, and how I imagine him developing after high school. I think he's always shown to be very honest, and passionate about his team, and despite his 'sleepy expression' I actually think he's shown with plenty of expression, particularly determination. I think never really playing in the first team would be devastating, and I'm sure he'd regret leaving the team and returning, but also want to learn from it. Someone mentioned my Ennoshita is kind of aggressive, which I think he is too, but it makes sense to me. The situation with his parents as well is why he's kind of childish, and obviously I have no idea about Ennoshita's canon homelife, so this head canon is really just me imagining how Ennoshita might react to that happening to him if it did. Basically 24 year old Chikara has had enough of waiting for things to happen, or of going wrong for him when they're taken out of his control, so now he goes out and takes what he wants.


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